


Gorgeous

by snnycarisi



Series: Harvard AU [2]
Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: (if you squint), Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe- Law School, Based on a Taylor Swift Song, Developing Relationship, Drinking, First Kiss, Fluff, Getting Together, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-16
Updated: 2019-07-16
Packaged: 2020-06-29 13:42:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19831414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snnycarisi/pseuds/snnycarisi
Summary: “He’s so fucking pretty, I hate him.” Rafael huffed into his coffee, while Rita subtly scanned the cafe for Rafael’s crush of the week. Standing in line wearing a worn out grey hoodie and ill fitting jeans, he- Rafael was yet to figure out his name- hummed absentmindedly as he waited to order.





	Gorgeous

**Author's Note:**

> This is the second part of my Harvard AU but you can probably read it without reading the first part (although reading the first part would make me happy lmao)!
> 
> Based on Gorgeous by Taylor Swift because, yes, it is a barisi song
> 
> Also! Lets ignore the canon age differences between the squad for now......

“He’s so fucking pretty, I hate him.” Rafael huffed into his coffee, while Rita subtly scanned the cafe for Rafael’s crush of the week. Standing in line wearing a worn out grey hoodie and ill fitting jeans, he- Rafael was yet to figure out his name- hummed absentmindedly as he waited to order. 

“He looks like he just walked in from the streets, I mean, he probably found those jeans in a dumpster somewhere and I swear my grandpa gave that hoodie to goodwill last week.” Rita snarked. Of course, the man  _ was  _ attractive, she just enjoyed getting a rise out of her friend. 

“It’s 6am on finals week, cut him some slack,” Both Rafael and Rita had donned their own old, baggy clothes with impressive eyebags to accessorize, so really they both understood the mystery man’s choice of clothing. “It just makes it worse- even in that hideous hoodie he’s still the hottest person in here.”

“Apart from me, you mean?” Rafael ignored this comment, and sighed woefully. 

“He’s ruining my life by being so attractive, who gave him the right to be like that?”

Rita laughed and shook her head at the state her friend had put himself into. This wasn’t the first time she had seen him so melodramatic, but usually he was pretty good at making the first move. Clearly, he needed a bit of encouragement. 

“Okay, Romeo, why don’t you go introduce yourself? Ask him out? I’m sure he won’t notice that you’re drooling,” Rafael’s eyes widened and he wiped at the corners of his mouth, which despite Rita’s teasing, were dry. 

“I can’t, we’ve never spoken so it’d be weird.” Fiddling with the packets of sugar on the table in front of him, Rafael avoided Rita’s eyes. 

“Isn’t that kind of the point of introducing yourself?” 

“He’s too cool Rita, he doesn’t wanna go out with the theatre nerd,” he mumbled. “Plus, he probably has a girlfriend or something.”

Rita slapped the sugar out of Rafael’s hands and sighed dramatically. “He doesn’t have a girlfriend,  _ look  _ at him,” Rafael’s death glare in her direction intensified. “And since when have you ever been insecure about being a theatre nerd? You’re usually advertising your acting ability to anyone that’s willing to listen.” 

Rafael rolled his eyes and look a long, languid sip of his coffee, hoping to drop the topic.

“These are just excuses, Raf, just admit you’re scared to talk to him.” Rita knew she was pushing, and this would likely end in a massive fight where they don’t talk for a week, not because they don’t want to, but because both are too stubborn to be the first to apologise- but she was frankly tired of the pining and really did want the best for him. If a screaming match with his best friend was going to be what got him the man of his dreams, Rita was willing to make that sacrifice. 

Rafael was silent for a moment, and then, “I’m not scared to talk to him, I’m scared of being rejected, okay? I really don’t feel like spending my last few weeks here all heartbroken because he doesn’t like me back.”

Rita understood where he was coming from, and was at least glad he wasn’t arguing, but something about what he had said filled her with so much sadness, she didn’t really know what to say. Settling for somewhat awkwardly patting his hand, Rita went back to her coffee and dropped the subject. 

\---

After his finishing his exams, all Rafael wanted to do was sit in his room and watch shitty movies with Rita drinking cheap wine until they fell asleep. What he  _ didn’t  _ want was to be dragged into some party he swore the whole school had ended up at. But here he was anyway. It wasn’t that he  _ couldn’t  _ say no to Rita, it was just usually easier to say yes. So now he stood in a corner of the room, watching the people dancing around him with a scowl glued to his face.

“C’mon grumpy, have a drink and get off your damn high-horse.” Rita swayed over to him, shaking a glass of whiskey under his nose as a peace offering. His scowl deepened as he snatched the drink from her, even though they both knew at this point it was just for show. 

“I think Carmen’s here somewhere, I’m gonna go find her- don’t go anywhere okay?” 

As if he would. 

All around him people screeched with laughter while smiles split open alcohol reddened cheeks; all Rafael could think was that these people would be running the country someday soon. These rich, mostly white, young men and women that wanted to party more than they wanted to learn the law. Being better than all of them was Rafael’s driving force, and sure, his superiority complex was a little unbearable to other people, but he didn’t care. 

A tap on his shoulder pulled him from his thoughts. Rita now stood in front of him, a new drink in one hand and Carmen on her other arm. Carmen was a nice girl and he’d spoken to her a few times in the various classes they shared, but really, she was Rita’s friend. He smiled courteously in her direction and took a swig of his whiskey. 

\---

A couple hours and a few drinks later, Rafael was in a much better mood, as the trio still hung back in the corner of the room, talking loudly over the music. Probably the biggest thing Rafael and Rita (and apparently Carmen) shared was their sense of superiority over their classmates; this ensured that any situation where they were surrounded by their peers, their conversation would be 90% bitching. 

“It’s friggin’ crazy! Like, what?!,” A thick Staten Island accent pierced through Rafael’s ear. The voice came from somewhere behind him and, if he was sober, he probably would have recognised the voice.

“It’s friggin’ crazy!” Rafael repeated mockingly, more under his breath than not, and directed at Rita, who he expected to laugh. She did not. Instead, she went wide-eyed and jerked her head in the direction of the voice. 

“Oh man, I got a parrot!” More than anything, Rafael wanted to melt into a puddle on the floor as he turned around to see his mystery man and two other people (Rafael recognised them as his friends) laughing at him for his smart mouth. He thanked every deity he could think of that the room was dark enough for them not to see his cheeks turning bright red. 

“Hey, man, that was real funny!” One of the men snapped back sarcastically. For the first time in his life, Rafael had no idea what to say. 

“Lay off Mike, it’s that fuckin’ kid from The Bronx that thinks he’s smarter than us- you’re not gonna win.” The blonde woman sneered and turned her back to him. 

Rafael rarely let words get to him, but right now he felt more humiliated than he had in a long time. Rita shot a death glare in their direction, and Carmen tried to pat his arm as a small comfort but Rafael just pushed them out of the way and stormed towards the backyard. 

He refused to cry- he wouldn’t give those assholes the satisfaction of knowing he left the party to weep in the backyard. The night was slightly chilly, but not particularly cold so he could sit on the grass without his coat on. Him and his stupid, smartass mouth. Maybe if he just shut up once in a while, he wouldn’t get himself hurt. But know, because he just couldn’t stop himself, his crush thought he was a dickhead and was inside laughing at him with his awful friends. Tears stung the back of his eyes, and he blinked rapidly to keep them at bay. 

In his attempt to steady his emotions, Rafael hadn’t heard the footsteps approaching where he sat. Before he realised what was happening, his mystery man was sitting next to him on the grass, studying his face for signs of weakness that he refused to display. 

“Hey there you are, took me forever to find you- I thought you’d taken off,” up close, he was even prettier than Rafael had ever imagined. His cheeks and chin were dusted with day-old stubble and his hair was scruffy but it just enhanced his youthful appearance. His knuckles brushed against Rafael’s as he spoke and it took everything in Rafael not to shudder. 

“I just wanted to say I’m sorry for what Mike and Amanda- mostly Amanda- said in there. They don’t know you and were just lookin’ out for me, but it was pretty unnecessary considering you were just kidding around.” Shifting his gaze from where it focused on his hands, Rafael looked into the man’s face and saw nothing but earnesty. There was no sign that he was mocking him or being in anyway sarcastic, and so Rafael let a small smile come across his lips. 

“You don’t know me either though,”

The man chuckled. “Yeah, I do actually- you’re Rafael Barba right?” Rafael felt his eyes widen and he nodded. “You’re kind of a legend, I mean, you’re at the top of nearly all of your classes, and you’re like, the best actor in the whole theatre troupe,”

If possible, Rafael just fell harder for this man. He seemed so kind and considerate of Rafael’s feelings despite the fact that he had just mocked him completely unsolicited. For the second time that night, Rafael had no idea what to say, and stared wide-eyed at the beautiful human next to him. 

“I’m Dominick Carisi Jr. by the way, but call me Sonny, everyone does.”

“‘Everyone’? Everyone at school or just everyone on the island?” Finally finding his voice, Rafael kept his expression neutral as he looked towards the man- Sonny- for his reaction.

Sonny laughed quietly and tilted his head, raising his eyebrows at Rafael. “Don’t act like you don’t like me, I’ve seen you stalking me around campus.” 

“You have?” He squeaked, his voice going up quite a few octaves as he shrunk in on himself slightly. 

“Mhm, how could I  _ not  _ notice the most handsome man I’ve ever seen checkin’ me out?” A shit-eating grin spread across Sonny’s face and he moved closer to Rafael until their noses almost touched. Even in the dark, Rafael could see the indentations of dimples in his cheeks and the way the tip of his nose went pink in the cool air and he wanted nothing more than to kiss that smile off his face. 

Rafael then threw his head back and let out a loud, annoyed groan. “Why do you have to do that?”

“Do what?” Sonny asked, looking very taken aback and confused, almost nervous. 

“Be so fucking cute and charming- you’re so fucking  _ gorgeous _ it’s annoying.” 

The smile regained its place on Sonny’s face as he grabbed onto Rafael’s collar and tugged him close. 

“You’re not so bad yourself,” he muttered, before closing the gap between them. 

Rafael had kissed many people in his short life, this was no secret. But in all the kisses with all the people he’d been with, as cliche as it sounded, nothing had felt quite like kissing Sonny. When Sonny’s lips collided with his own, he felt like he was ascending- he swore a heavenly choir began singing inside of his head. Sonny was so warm and as he moved one hand from Rafael’s collar to the back of his neck and the other to his cheek, Rafael felt all the love he held for Sonny pooling inside of his chest, making it feel like it would burst. 

He ran his tongue across Sonny’s bottom lip, asking permission to deepen the kiss. Licking into Sonny’s mouth, he tasted like beer and something sweet- he couldn’t tell what- and Sonny moaned softly as he nibbled on his lip. Their position was somewhat awkward, and despite his skinniness, Rafael collected all the strength he could muster to lift Sonny into his lap. 

Now on top of Rafael, Sonny pulled out of the kiss and rest his forehead against the other man’s. His lips puffy and redder than usual while his powder blue eyes shone brightly, Sonny looked ethereal. 

“By the way,” he started, slightly out of breath, “Rita says hi.”

“Of course she does.” Rafael rolled his eyes and caught Sonny’s lips again with his own.

**Author's Note:**

> comments make me :)
> 
> twitter is @snnycarisi


End file.
